Shabana Mahmood's position as Home Secretary will become "increasingly untenable" if she caves to left-wing Labour MPs, a critic has warned. The Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, refused 16 times to back Ms Mahmood's migrant crackdown.
It comes after an ally said Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been on his Home Secretary's "side" throughout "this row over ILR", adding "he is holding the line". Downing Street dodged questions over whether they will water down plans to tighten up indefinite leave to remain requirements.
Conservative Support Conditional on No Dilution
The Tories have vowed to help the Labour Home Secretary get her reforms through Parliament - if she refuses to water them down. Mr Philp declared last night: "Shabana Mahmood is about to do a U-turn and let down the British public.
"Now, we Conservatives would support these changes if they're not diluted. But if Shabana Mahmood capitulates to Angela Rayner, she'll be letting down the British public.
"It'll be an affront. It'll cost £10 billion by her own admission, and Shabana Mahmood's position will start looking increasingly untenable."
Energy Secretary Breaks Collective Responsibility
Ms Fahnbulleh refused to abide by collective responsibility during an explosive morning media round. Sky's Sophy Ridge told the Energy Secretary: "If a minister disagrees with a Government policy, he or she must still publicly support it."
However, Ms Fahnbulleh still refused to do so, saying: "I support reforms that say people have to contribute and make a contribution to this country in order to get citizenship.
"We are consulting on the package of reforms that we've put forward, and the Home Secretary, having looked at all the responses, will set out what the final position is."
Reforms and Public Backing
More than 200,000 people have been granted settlement rights - indefinite leave to remain - since Labour vowed to tighten the rules last year. Under Labour's plans, migrants will be told to wait at least 10 years before they can apply for settlement rights.
Care workers face being forced to wait 15 years before they can apply for ILR, as immigration chiefs believe the health and social care visa was widely abused. And migrants could be barred from claiming benefits unless they become British citizens. Some 4.2 million migrants moved to the UK between 2021 and 2024.
Labour MPs warned rebels that Ms Mahmood has the backing "of the majority of the country". Preet Kaur Gill said: "I think it's really important that colleagues come together and really look at this because if we are really serious about building trust in politics and we want Labour voters to stay with Labour, then we've got to address these very difficult decisions.
"I appreciate they might be difficult because there will be people with a range of views and it's for the Home Secretary to bring the Parliamentary Labour Group together.
"But at the end of the day, we're here to serve the country and the country has made it very, very clear - and that is working-class voters of all types - that they want law and order restored, they want our borders secure, and they want illegal migration to be tackled and they want a fairer system, and we've got to deliver on that."
Asked if she had a message for Ms Mahmood, Ms Gill said: "Keep going. You're doing a phenomenal job, and, you know what, you have the backing of the majority of the country, I would say."
Challenged over their comments, No 10 stressed that Ms Mahmood was "carefully considering" more than 200,000 responses to a consultation before finalising the reforms. Asked whether tweaks to the Home Secretary's initial revamp – including applying the policy retrospectively – could be ruled out, Andy Burnham's press secretary told reporters: "We set out proposals for consultation. We've consulted on what the transition arrangement should look like (for) people already in the UK who have not received settled status.
"The Home Secretary is leading a thorough piece of work to ensure we get this right and have the right arrangements in place."
